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, RfJ. SHEEHYQ REGORDER AND REGISTER FOR ELEGTRIG LIGHTING SYSTEMS.

- PatentedJDeo. 11, 1883 IJV' VEJV TOR 1206012. 115709672 39 hisAttorneys.

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ihvrrnn STATES PATENT @rrrcs.

ROBERT J. SHEEHY,

on NEW YORK, N. Y.

RECORDER AND REGISTER FOR ELECTRIC LIGHTING SYSTEMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,862, dated December11, 1883.

' Application filed October 12, 1882. INomodelJ To all whom it mayconcern Be, it known that I, ROBERT J. SHEEHY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing in the city, county, and State of New York,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in a Recorder andRegister for Electric Lighting Systems, of which the following isaspecification.

My invention relates, in general, to the economical and practicalmanagement of electric lighting systems, and more particularly to appliances usedfor indicating and recording at required points along theline of the electric circuit the quantity of electricity which has beensupplied to consumers at different points, as determined by the periodof time during which service has been rendered.

The object of my invention is to present to the eye a visual indicationor record of the ag gregate period of time during which the service hasbeen rendered at any given point, which-will also show the severalfractional periods which constitute said aggregate period, as well asthe exact times at which they have occurred. Under the electriclighting, it is usual to furnish the service during certain hours ofeach day, and to charge therefor a price determined by the number ofdays during which the customer has been supplied therewith. No means areprovided by which the customer may be supplied with the service at suchtimes only as he may desire it, nor by which the actual service thusrendered to said customer can be ascertained.

In the hitherto existing crude state of the art, these imperfect andapproximate systems have been deemed admissible; but they arenevertheless open to serious commercial objections, inasmuch as theprice is seldom in actual proportion to the service rendered, and nomeans are available by which disputes as to the proper value can beequitably settled, as in the case of gas systems, in which meters areprovided for registering the consumption of gas.

The specific results accomplished and the mechanism which constitutesthe subject-matter of this invention are, first, the ascertainment ofthe aggregate period during which the service has been rendered; and,secondly,

present conditions of the art of the automatic production of a recordexhibit ing the exact periods during the day or week during which saidservice was rendered, which record may be considered as an itemizedstatement of the full service, and which therefore serves to'corroboratethe record of the aggregate service.

My invention may be applied to many of the electric lighting systems inuse.

The various elements of apparatus which .are employed in my invention Ihave combined in a single instrument, so as to furnish a practicable andserviceable article of manufacture, which may be used to supplement andcomplete the electric lighting system to which it may be applied.

My invention is set forth'in'the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 is a perspective view of my indicating-and recording apparatus. Fig. 2shows the same in vertical transverse section, with a diagram of thecircuits employed. Fig. 3 is a detached elevation of parts of therecording device.

Parts appearing in more than one figure are designated in each bysimilar reference-letters.

Referring to Fig. 2, I have shown a circuit of conductors suppliedwithelectrical currents by a generator, A, (which may be either adynamo-electric machine or any other suitable generator,) which currentsare conveyed by said conductors to various translating devicesas, forexample, the electric-arc lamps B B B. The electro-magnet 13* isincluded .in the circuitof said conductors. It may be an independentmagnet, as shown; or' one of the regulating-magnets of the lamps B B Bmay be made use of for this purpose. The armature D is carried by thebent lever E, and is mechanically united with the levers E Y and Ethrough which it performs, in addition to its office of separating thecarbon electrodes, certain other functions, as follows: first, that ofoperating mechanism for givin avisual exhibition of the aggregate periodduring which the service has been rendered; and, second, that ofoperating a recording mechanism which prepares a record of the dividualperiods during-each day or week in which the service was rendered. A Thefirst of these may be described in detail as follows: The forwardmovement of the armature D acts to turn the lever E uponits fulcrum E,

exact in- 1 thus moving the shifting pinion F into ongagement with thewheel F, thereby connecting the shaft G (which revolves continuouslyunder the action of any suitable time-train mechanism contained in caseH, and is aetuated in any convenient manner by springs or weights) withan ordinary clock mechanism, comprising the wheels and pinions F to FThe arbors F and I and the hands F and F revolve in the usual manner,the latter in front of dial-plates, as best seen in Figs. 1 at F" and FThe upper dial may indicate days,- and the lower dial hours, and as thismechanism will be in motion during the time that the lamp is inoperation, and at no other time, the position of the hand upon the saiddials at any given moment will denote the aggregate period of operationsince they were originally set at the initial or zero point.

. I will next describe that part of my invention which has for itsobject the production of an itemized diagram of the service. I haveshown a drum, H, turning upon an axis, H journaled at H and H*. The saidaxis is continuously caused to rotate in one direction through themedium of the pinion I and worm U, which latter receives its motion fromthe arbor G of the minute-hand of the time'train mechanism. The rotarymotion of said axis is communicated by appropriate intermediatewheel-work to the shaft H which is provided with a threaded exterior,upon which the nut H travels. A stylus, J, is carried by said nut, andunder the infiuence'of the time-train mechanism makes a traverse fromone end of the threaded shaft to the other during a pre determinedperiod of timeas, for example, one week. hen such is the case, the drumis enveloped with a sheet of paper, upon which the days are indicated byseven equal divisions or spaces, as defined by the circui'nferentialrulings shown in the drawings, which may be intersected at right anglesby twenty-four lines, indicating the hour subdivisions.

\Vhen the circuits are not in operation, the stylus J is maintained inan elevated position above the surface of the drum; but when the magnetD is vitalized in the manner hereinbefore described, and the lever E isactuated, the said stylus is drawn down upon the surface of the drumthrough the action of levers E and E, which serve to depress the stylusby giving to the arm which carries the same a slight oscillation upon.the threaded shaft. The manner in which this is effected will beunderstood by reference to Fig. 3. Then thus depressed, a continuousrecord is produced upon the paper until the stylus is again elevated.Such a graphic record may be at any time interpreted in a manner wellunderstood 1 l l l and an electro-magnet included therein,

to show the exact times during the week in which the service has beenrendered.

It is evident that when both these devices are employed in conjunctionWith'each other, and simultaneously actuatedby the same electromagnet,the aggregate period presented by the dials must necessarily be alwaysthe same as that which would result by adding together the severalperiods indicated by the graphic record upon the surface of the drum.The object of using both devices in conjunction is, first, to provide asimple means for computing the value of light furnished, (and in thisrespect the indicating part of the mechanism takes the place of theordinary gasmeter in gas systems;) and, second, to determine, in case ofdispute, exactly the times and hours during which the service wasfurnished, so that the indicated period may be checked or'corroboratedand the question incontroversy settled.

It is evident also that the device shown is equally well adapted toregister and record the value of service other than electric lighting,which may be rendered through the medium of an electric current. Thus itis applicable for registering the amount of motive power furnished byelectricity, and it may also be applied to electrical switch systems.

It is also apparent that an independent electro-magnet and armature maybe used, if desired, to actuate the device, instead of employing theregulating electro-mangnet and armature of the electric lamp.

I claim as my invention' 1. The combination, substantially ashereinbe'fore set forth, of a movable armature actuated by theservice-producing current, and a double system of levers connected withsaid armature, one of which controls mechanism for denoting theaggregate period of time during which said armature is so actuated,while the other produces an itemized record of said times or periods.

2. The combination,substantially as hereinbeforc set forth, with anelectric light circuit of de vices for respectively indicating theaggregate period and graphically recording the successive fractionalperiods during which said magnet has been vitalized or the electriclights have been in action.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this 5th day ofOctober, A. D. 1882.

ROBERT J. SHEEHY.

Xvi tnesses:

DANIEL NV. Encnconn, MILLER C. EARL.

